Grandpa wasn't there
by madhattie
Summary: COMPLETE Forbidden game. What would have happened if Jenny's grandfather hadn't come down in time to rescue her from the shadow men?
1. Chapter 1

Authors Notes: I am a huge fan of LJ Smith – especially forbidden game. 1 reviews gets the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, all I own is the plot. Forbidden game and everything about it belongs to LJ Smith. 

"Yes, it is ours!" cackled the shadow men.

"What shall we do first?" said one, tracing Jenny's face with a long withered finger.

"Pull out it's eyeballs!" suggested one.

"Break it's fingers!" said another.

"Send it to our little fun park!" another one smiled, evilly.

"Leave her alone!" A young shadow man stepped forward. Jenny looked up to see white-blonde hair – if you could call it blonde at all, for it was pure white, like the first snow – and eyes so blue it looked like a deep lake, one of those you saw in the mountains of Switzerland. You could drown in those eyes.

"Oooh, the little mouse wants to fight!" mocked the first shadow man, giving Julian a little push.

"I said, leave her alone. I want her."

"Oh, you want her, do you? And why should we give her to you? She's ours – she freed us all, she is our prey."

"But she is only young,"

"Shadow men don't show sympathy, boy, within time you will learn that."

The boy looked defeated. "I want her." He said, quietly.

"Well you can't have her. Go away. We want to play with her."

Jenny watched the boy leave. She began to sob again. She was scared. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew that her grandfather shouldn't have people like this in his closet. And she was so cold. The ground here was icy – it bit at her bare legs. She wanted her mother.

"Now, shall we play a little game?" Said one of the monsters, leaning closer to whisper in her ear, "Kids like games, we know."

"I don't want to play with you," Jenny whimpered.

"Now then, that's not very nice. Why don't you like us? Are we too big? Too scary?"

Jenny nodded, then shook her head, scared and uncertain.

"We're really quite friendly," Jenny didn't trust that smile, "Let's play hide and seek. But hide well – you won't like it when we catch you!"

"We'll give you some time. You have a week. Understand what that means? 7 days. 168 hours. 10080 minutes."

"In other words, we'll count to six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred. That's a long time – right? You better find a real good hiding place."

"Now run. We're starting to count – 1…2…3…"

Jenny ran, faster than she had ever run before. She didn't know where she was going – only that it was the way the other boy had gone. The one with the nice eyes. She didn't know if he was a good guy or a bad guy, but she didn't know where else to go. The ice ran out, and she was in woodland. Suddenly, an arm stuck out from behind a tree and grabbed her. She screamed, and looked up to see a familiar face, and a pair of large blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors notes: 5 reviews for another chapter.

"Hey there Jenny," The boy was looking directly at her, speaking so calmly that she could have been playing in the park instead of fleeing from a group of shadow men out for her blood.

"Hello," Jenny said timidly. She was frightened, but something about this boy was strange. Not just the fact that he looked, well, beautiful, but when he touched her, as his arm was around her waist now, she suddenly felt very shivery – but not cold. It scared her.

"You have to keep quiet. They'll play by their rules, but I'm not allowed to help you, so they can't know. Follow me."

He took her hand and led her through the trees. The wood reminded her of the one near her house that she played in with Zach. Oh, Zach – would she ever see him again? Or her mother? Was she doomed to be stuck here?

Soon she saw a castle, like the one in the fairy tale books her mum used to read to her. But not the good ones where Kings and princesses and good fairies lived – this looked more like the lairs of evil witches or vampires. But while the boy was holding her hand, she was sure that she would be safe. He was holding her hand so tight his knuckles were as white as his hair, and her finger tips were going dark purple in contrast.

Inside the castle it was much darker, and the walls were all dark brick with deep red carpets. Jenny shuddered at the many spiders that were crawling everywhere. The boy kept pulling her – through doors and up staircases, it felt like they were going to the very top of the house. Finally they came to a huge wooden door which the boy pushed open. Inside was a huge living room, very imperial, with velvet couches and a wooden table.

The boy let go of Jenny's hand.

"We should be safe now." He said, and sat down on one of the couches.

"Who are you?" Jenny asked, unable to take it all in.

"Call me Julian," he smiled, "the youngest of the shadow men."

"Shadow men?" Jenny didn't understand.

Julian sighed. "You're so young, how can I ever hope to explain? Think of this place as hell, all right? And the shadow men – the scary guys you saw – we're like demons. I'm on too, but the other's, they're all older."

"They aren't like you. They're ugly, and scary. I don't like them,"

"No one does. Their soul purpose in life is to be hated. And I am one of them."

"Then why did you help me?"

"I don't know. I think it's because I love you."

"Don't be silly. You've only just met me."

"Oh, you are so young. There is so much you have still to learn, so much you don't understand. Why did you have to open that door?" Julian sounded angry now, his eyes blazed with blue fire.

"I'm sorry," Jenny was scared now. She started to sob.

"Don't cry," Julian's voice wasn't sympathetic, or pleasing. It was just a statement – a command. Immediately, Jenny shut up.

Julian started to pace the room, looking at Jenny time and time again. Eventually, he threw himself back down on to the seat and just stared at Jenny.

"What on earth are we meant to do now?" he groaned.

"I want my mom," said Jenny.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: 8 reviews for the next chapter. No freaky stuff, okay, 4 year old romances is not my thing!

Julian watched the small girl lying curled up on the sofa. Her golden hair fell over her face, her small form squeezed up so tightly, protectively. She was trembling slightly in her sleep, but how could she sleep soundly in so much fear?

He wanted to touch her, to brush her hair out of her eyes, to stroke the soft cheeks, but he couldn't. Not without her permission, and not when she was so young. He had to help her escape, to get back to her world, but he had no idea how.

And why did he want to help her so badly? She had opened the door, released them, her own silly mistake, and now she was rightfully theirs – their prey. But he couldn't think of hurting her, treating her like he had treated his many other victims through the years. She was so young, so innocent, so different to himself, and he was attracted to her like a fly to a lightbulb, a north pole to a south. A shadow man – in love? It was impossible. He would go get the other shadow men when the week was up, and hand her over. He wasn't going soft. He couldn't go soft.

In her sleep, Jenny started to cry out. Her sleep was tortured by nightmares, Julian could tell. He was an expert in all things nightmarish. He watched as she tossed and turned in her agony. The shadow men were in her dreams – torturing her from the inside. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Stay strong, Julian thought, don't go soft. But he couldn't bare it, watching her in such total terror. He could see the images racing through her mind – her mother lying in a pool of blood on the floor, her father with flames licking at his clothes, her grandfather (Julian shuddered at the sight of him) screaming in pain, and a light haired boy with grey eyes and a beaky face lying completely still.

"Zach!" Jenny screamed, her face soaked with sweat and tears. Julian was standing right over her now, watching the tiny body twisting about on the sofa. He stretched out his hand, and shook her shoulder. Jenny snapped awake.

"Julian?" She sobbed, "They're going to get me. And mommy, and daddy, and grandfather and…" Another sob choked in her throat, "…Zach."

"It's okay, Jenny, it's just a dream. Your family are okay." Julian voice was very small and quiet. He couldn't believe or understand what had happened. Pity, that's what humans called it, pity. Such a world did not exist in the shadow world. Shadow men were merciless – until now, so was Julian.

Jenny's tears were streaming freely now, her half sobs had turned into wails. "I want to go home," She screamed, "I want to go home."

Julian looked down at her, their eyes met, his unimaginable blue eyes meeting her green ones – shining with tears. "I want to take you home." He said, then he turned away, hiding his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note: Thanks to everyone who's read and enjoyed my story, and all it's reviewers! I'll update whenever I can find the inspiration!

Jenny didn't like it here, and she was bored. She'd gone to look out of the window, but she couldn't see her house – though she hadn't really expected to – just tall dark trees, and, in the distance, tall icy mountains. Then Julian had come and pulled her away from the window, pulling shut the dark red curtains. Now the room was dark.

There wasn't much to do here – and no one to play with. She missed all her friends. She didn't dare play with Julian, he was too old and she thought he looked as if he were in a bad mood. So instead she sat on the cushions, thinking, and trying to stop herself falling asleep. She was scared of what might wait for her in her dreams.

Julian was worried too. He was worried about Jenny. She was getting paler, her eyes getting darker. He wasn't sure if she could last much longer in the shadow world – but if she went back to her own world it would be easier for the shadow men to find her – and he wouldn't be able to protect her. He was unlikely to win a battle against them here, let along back in the human world, where his powers were considerably weaker.

In the shadow world there were places to hide, places the shadow men couldn't penetrate with their icy minds. Somewhere Jenny would be safe – but he couldn't protect her forever. Even if the shadow men could not find her, the shadow world itself would kill her eventually. She wouldn't be able to sleep, and she wouldn't have any human company. At her age, she wouldn't be able to live here. If she were older – say 17 or so – then he might have kept her here. No, he would have kept her here. 15 years matured, Jenny would be beautiful. He wouldn't be able to let her go. He wasn't sure if he could now.

There was one alternative – he could hand her over to the shadow men. But he knew he couldn't. He hadn't even been able to let her sleep through a harmless nightmare – how could he leave her to face the nightmare becoming real? He didn't know what to do – and time was running out. The clock in the room began to strike – its hands ticking down the seconds until Jenny's time was up. He had 5 days – 48 precious hours had already gone.

"Julian," A whiney voice in the corner of the room, Julian looked up. "I miss mommy."

"Would you like to see her?" Julian asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes please."

Julian produced a mirror from one of the cupboards, silver around the edges and the shiny surface itself seeming to stretch out to infinity. Jenny peered over, looking into it, but she didn't see her reflection. Instead she saw a familiar sight.

"Zach!" she cried, happily. But Zach didn't look happy. His face was red, his eyes puffy. He had been crying. "Why is he sad?"

"How should I know?" Julian snapped. Jenny's lip trembled. "He's probably missing you – you've been gone for two days!"

"But I'm safe! I'm with you!" Julian couldn't meet Jenny's smiling eyes. "Tell Zach I'm all right." Jenny demanded. Julian didn't reply.

The mirror fogged up again, and when it cleared she saw her parents. Her mom was crying, her dad had his arm around his wife's shoulder. His face was pale, his expression grim.

"They're sad too!" Jenny's face showed her dismay. "Julian, you have to tell them I'm all right! I don't want them to be sad!"

The mirror changed image again, this time to show…

"Grandfather! But what's wrong with him?" The old man's eyes were closed, his face eerily white. He lay completely still, somewhere dark. Julian knew what was wrong with him. Serves him right, he thought, teach him to shut me in a cupboard.

But Jenny's face had begun to crumple, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Julian! I want to go back! They all need me. Tell them I'm all right. Send me home. I don't want to be here."

Julian made up his mind.

"All right," he said, "Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

He grabbed her wrist, and dragged her to the door they had come in through. But when Julian yanked the handle open, it was not the dark, dank, corridor Jenny saw, but her grandfather's basement. She gasped.

"How did that get there?" she asked.

"Magic." Julian said slowly, looking at Jenny, "You go and find you parents, and stay here. Don't run off on your own. And…" Julian took a deep breath – and made his decision, "Take this and wear it. Do not take it off – do you understand? Not when you sleep, not when you're playing. It will protect you."

Jenny looked at the pendant he had handed her. Hanging from a silver chain was a black stone, and at it's center was a star of light.

"It's a black star sapphire, for protection. The silver chain will also help. It's very valuable, so keep it hidden," Julian slipped the chain around Jenny's neck, hiding it under her tee-shirt. Jenny could feel it – ice cold against her skin.

Julian was still at the other side of the doorway, and he grabbed the door handle to pull the door shut. Before it closed, he took one last look at Jenny.

"I'll be back in 5 days. Don't take the pendant off." He stretched out a hand to stroke her shining hair, "Stay safe." He shut the door.

Jenny resisted going back and opening the door to see if he had really gone, and instead ran up the basement steps and out into the hallway, shouting "Mommy! Daddy!"

Her parents came running out from behind the living room door, and they hugged, with tears streaming down her faces.

"Where have you been?" her mother was sobbing, "Oh Jenny, I've missed you so much. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, mommy. I'm back now."

"But where have you been?" her father asked.

"I don't know," Jenny said, truthfully, "I thought it was just grandfathers closet. But if it is, it's very icy, and very big."  
"Yes dear," her mother said, in a tone anyone older would have recognised as patronising, "You can tell me all about it."

And so Jenny settled back into her family life. There were questions from everyone, and Jenny, being truthful by nature and 4 years old, told the complete truth. Well, most of it, she kept the pendant a secret, and she didn't tell anyone that Julian would come back. It didn't really matter, as only Zach believed her. Adults whispered of trauma, of an over-active imagination. Eventually, they gave up on finding out what they thought of as the real truth. They were too glad to have Jenny back.

Jenny had been scared to sleep at first, but soon she found out that the nightmares would stay away. It was the pendant protecting her mind from penetration by the shadow men, but she didn't know that. Black star sapphire and silver – for protection. Not some new age crap, it really did work, if you knew who it was protecting you from.

When Julian had shut the door, he sat down, his back resting on the wood. He ran his fingers through his white hair and breathed deeply, clearing his head. She would be safe there until her hiding time was up. Then they would come and get her. And he had no way to prevent it, all he could do was delay it. He had the intelligence of two millennia, but he still couldn't save a 4 year old girl. It was pathetic. He needed a plan – he had nothing.

He watched he hands on the clock count down.


	6. Chapter 6

Jenny couldn't forget Julian. She saw pairs of blue eyes watching her from all the shadows. They didn't scare her, they were comforting. He was looking after her. She touched the chain around her neck, sparks flew through her fingers. She was safe – while Julian was looking after her, nothing could get at her.

But five days passes so quickly especially when you're happy. And Jenny was happy. She was happy to be back with her family. And she didn't realise as the countdown to Julian's imminent return ticked on slowly.

She and Zach were playing in the park – hide and seek. Zach was counting.

"13-14-15."

Jenny scrambled up a tree, scraping her bare shins on the bark, leaves in her golden hair, engulfing herself in the canopy of green, hidden from sight to the people down below.

"Hello Jenny," said a cool, almost icy voice. Jenny looked up into a ghostly pale face. Julian looked even paler than the last time she had seen him, his eyes even bluer – a shocking contrast. Full of colour.

"Julian!" Jenny smiled, "Has it been 5 days already?"

"Keep your voice down. Yes, it's time. Are you ready to go?"

"Can I say goodbye to Zach?"

"Sorry, there's no time. We have to go, now."

"But…"

"No buts. Come on, they're already out hunting for you."

"You mean they're still there?" Jenny's face looked shocked. Julian was surprised, he hadn't realised she might have thought they'd gone.

"Yes. They've been counting down they're week. Now they're going to come and get you."

Jenny suddenly looked scared. A tear ran down her cheek.

"But I'll keep you safe. I'll protect you." Julian said, hurriedly. It would not be easy for a guy looking as old and as strange as him to get back to the shadow world with a crying and probably protesting 4-year-old. Humans notice this sort of thing. "Are you still wearing the necklace?"

Jenny nodded, touching her chest. She sniffed, rubbed her eyes, and blinked. Julian grabbed her wrist, and tried not to notice the little shock it sent through his arm. When she's older, he thought, but not now…

"Come on," he grunted, pulling her down out of the tree. Zach had finished counting.

"Jenny! Where are you going? Come back!" He called, worriedly.

"Don't worry Zach!" Jenny shouted as Julian pulled her along. "I'll be safe. It's Julian."

Julian bit his lip, and tightened his grip on her wrist. He pulled her down an alley that smelled of urine and alcohol. The pound was covered in dirty puddles. He pushed Jenny into a big puddle, and watched as she disappeared from sight, then followed her in. He felt the cool iciness encase him as he re-entered the shadow world.

Jenny landed on the deep velvet sofa, and watched as Julian appeared opposite her.

"Now what?" Jenny asked.

Julian sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. It was time to make the decision. And he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready for this choice.

"We wait."


	7. Chapter 7

And so they waited. Jenny sat on the sofa, in silence. She felt her heart thudding inside her chest, her stomach fluttering. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she was sure it wouldn't be good.

Julian couldn't sit down. He was pacing the room, his eyes flicking to he clock. His senses were on full alert, but in a way he was not used to. Normally he was the hunter, but now he was the prey. He tried to find where the other shadow men were in his head, but they were hidden, as he had expected. He knew that they knew he had Jenny. He knew that they knew where he was. And he knew that they knew there was no way Jenny could come out of this alive.

Then they both heard the knocking. It was the slow, hard, careful knock of doom.

Without moving his lips, Jenny heard Julian say _don't make any noise. Don't even think. _The noise went straight into her head without passing through her ears in the usual way. Jenny would have wondered about that, if she hadn't been specifically told not to.

The knocking sounded again. KNOCK KNOCK. A pause. KNOCK KNOCK. Then a most tremendous earth shaking BOOM sounded, and in came the shadow men. They were even more terrifying than they had been before. Against her chest, Jenny felt the black sapphire start to burn.

"Where is she?" One of the shadow men snapped, looking around the room.

"Who?" Julian sounded completely cool, but it takes more than a talent at acting to fool a shadow man.

"The girl. We know you have her. Take us to her. She is our prey."

"I don't know where she is." Julian's whole body was tense. He could see Jenny, her face terrified. But the shadow men couldn't. It wouldn't last long.

"There's some protectional force," another shadow man said, swiping at the air with a withered hand.

"That means the girl must be here, in this room," The first shadow man said, scanning the room with his eyes, "She will be ours shortly."

"Your little girlfriend's time will soon be up. Give her to us now and she won't suffer," another shadow man cackled, "much."

Julian felt a lump in his throat. He knew what was coming. His reflexes were primed, ready to spring into action the moment it did. The shadow men were right, it wouldn't be long. He watched Jenny out of the corner of his eye. She was crawling behind the sofa. Fat lot of good that would do.

The shadow men stepped forward, the black sapphire glowed white hot, Jenny bit her lip to stop herself crying out. And then it happened.

The noise was so tiny, but it seemed deafening to Julian. A tiny crack, and the sapphire had broken in two.

The faces of the shadow men glowed for a second, they blinked, and then it was gone.

"What happened?" one asked.

"The protection was gone." Another replied.

"Then why can we not see the girl?" asked another.

They all slowly turned to face Julian, who was slowly turning purple. His eyes were shining so brightly, the blue the colour of nothing any human had ever seen before.

"STOP PROTECTING HER!" A shadow man snapped.

"SHE IS OURS!" another cried.

"Do not worry," the sly smile on this shadow mans face was far more frightening than the other's anger, "the girl will be ours."

Julian had known it was coming. He felt the force of the mental blow. It shoved him backwards. His concentration broke. He mentally groped for the protection, but it was lost.

The shadow men all saw the golden haired girl curled up behind the sofa.


	8. The End

The oldest shadow man stepped slowly forward, taking his time, enjoying every step. He smiled the smile of a hungry crocodile.

"Oh dear," he said, in a voice as slow and as careful as his walk, "We seem to have found you. You weren't a very good hider, were you? Found so soon. Behind a sofa, honestly? Good job that your little friend here was there to help you, now, wasn't it?" he threw a glance at Julian who swayed slightly.

Jenny staggered up, backing slowly away.

"There's nowhere to go, you know," a second shadow man stepped forward, his eyes blazing with fire, "We'll find you. We'll catch you. It'll all be over soon." He stretched out his hand, gnarled and grey, to touch Jenny's hair.

"So young, so beautiful. Such a shame." Another shadow man added, without a morsel of regret in his voice.

Jenny ran over to Julian, hiding behind him. The shadow men all turned to him.

"You still have a chance," said the lead one to Julian, "You can still join us. Make the final kill. You've done it so many times before."

"Not this one," Julian shook his head, glancing down at Jenny - her face pleading, her eyes full of fear. "She's different."

"Why is she different? Because she's a child? But you've killed children before! Come on, little shadow man, come join us. You know you want to. There's nothing you can do to protect her."

"I know. I cannot protect her. But I will not kill her."

"So you'll watch her die?"

"No."

"Leave her then. Go and hide in another corner of the shadow world. Stop hindering us."

"No."

"Then what? What can you do? You cannot save her, you won't watch her die but you won't leave her to her fate! You must do something!" The shadow men were speaking as one voice now. One snatched forward, grabbing Jenny's arm. She screamed, the noise cutting through Julian like the sharpest knife.

And now Julian was angry – the fury rising up inside him like a bubbling volcano. Stories didn't have to have happy endings – this was something all shadow men knew – but this was not how it was meant to end. He grabbed Jenny's arm, pulling her away from the shadow men and…

The shadow main recoiled back. They looked as if they'd been punched. A strong mental blow had been struck, and Julian hadn't even realised he'd done it.

"You can't have her." Julian's voice was firm.

"You can't stop us. That blow was a fluke. She is our prey, and you are just weak. Blood must be spilled."

And suddenly Julian knew what he had to do. The thought of it lay heavy in what he could have called his heart, but he suddenly realised that it was the only way.

"Take me then."

All noise stopped. Jenny looked up at him, her green eyes brimming with tears. She didn't understand. The shadow men did.

"You would sacrifice yourself?" One said in complete disbelief, "For a human? For this vermin?"

Julian gulped, and took a deep breath. "Yes. I have lived for millions of years, and she has barely lived for five. Take me instead of her. Let her go."

Julian saw the runestave, saw it being passed from shadow man to shadow man, saw the knife being drawn, saw the huge slash…

And then it was over. Julian fell to the floor, his body shaking. The shadow men disappeared.

Jenny ran over to her saviour, where he lay shivering. His pupils were dilated, the blue fire that had once surrounded them dim.

"What's wrong?" Jenny asked, trembling.

"I'm dying Jenny. But that doesn't matter, you're safe now."

"You can't be gone. What if they come back?"

"They won't. You're not their prey any more. It's over. Go home, back to your own world. The way out his through that door." He nodded his head to the main door, and closed his eyes.

"Bye Julian," Jenny said, wiping away the tear that was rolling down her cheek. She bent over, and kissed Julian's cheek, before running back through the door and into safety.

Julian disappeared, his body vanishing into the space from where it had come. But he went happy.

Authors note: It had to be, and maybe you saw it coming. That's the end of this fanfic, I hoped you enjoyed reading it. All reviews were greatly appreciated. I'm sad that it had to end this way, and I'll miss writing it, but look out for more of my fiction in the future. Until then…


	9. The Real Ending

The blue eyes opened – and they were bluer than she had remembered. 15 years had past, and yet she suddenly felt like she was 5 years old again, running through a wood with a tall boy gripping her hand. She caught her breath.

"Julian?" she asked, tentatively. The eyes blinked, and looked around.

"Jenny?" the mouth said, and Julian sat up. "I'm… alive?"

Jenny nodded, brushing away a tear with her hand.

"You brought me back. But why?"

"Because you saved my life when you could have left me to die," Jenny paused, "And because I think you loved me, something I didn't understand the last time we met."

Julian's ran his fingers through his hair. "I do love you Jenny. I thought I'd never love anyone, but I do love you. But the real question is do you love me? Could you ever love a shadow man, one of the creatures who were prepared to kill you when you were only 5?"

"If I didn't love you, I would never have brought you back. I wouldn't have spent the last 5 years of my life trying to find out how I could bring you back. I would have gone out with all the other boys who asked me – Tommy and the others. But I didn't, I waited for you. And if I hadn't been able to get you back, well, I don't know what I would have done." Jenny was crying now, tears of happiness running down her cheeks, "But you are back, aren't you? It is really you? Did I succeed?"

"Yes, Jenny, you did." Then he kissed her, a soft kiss that sent shivers through Jenny's spine, and her mind reeling. She felt Julian's hands on her face, wiping away the tears.

This is how the story is meant to end.

Authors Note: Just a short paragraph to round off the story, as I couldn't leave it at that, and I know you didn't want it to end that way either. So here it is, the real conclusion to the story. Thanks for reading.


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